Sultan Ibrahim escorted by two fighter jets during flight before swearing-in ceremony

PETALING JAYA: Two Royal Malaysian Air Force fighter jets were deployed to escort the private jet of His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim King of Malaysia as he travelled to Subang Jaya here before the swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday (Jan 31).

In a statement on its official Facebook page, the Air Force said a F/A-18 D Hornet and a Sukhoi Su-30 MKM were deployed to escort the Boeing 737-82Z (BBJ2) which was carrying Sultan Ibrahim to be sworn in at Istana Negara on Wednesday (Jan 31).

“The Sukhoi fighter jet departed from the Gong Kedak Air Base while the F/A-18 D Hornet fighter jet departed from Kuantan Air Base to Senai to accompany the departing private plane from Senai International Airport, Johor at approximately 9am.

“The F/A-18 D Hornet was flown by Major Mohammad Afendie Mohamad Idir together with weapons sensor operator Capt Ahmad Nazhan Ahmad Nazrin, while the Sukhoi jet was flown by Major Fairul Mohd Rustham with weapons sensor operator Major Noor Azuan Abdullah Halim,” it said, adding that the plane carrying Sultan Ibrahim safely landed at the Subang Air Base at 9.41am.

Meanwhile, the Air Force said that two F/A-18 D Hornet fighter jets were also deployed a day earlier to escort the Airbus Corporate Jet 320 (ACJ 320) carrying the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandaria.

“The two fighter jets were deployed from the Butterworth Air Base at 8am and landed at KLIA.

“They escorted the flight and safely landed at around 11.45am,” it said, noting that several pictures of the aircraft and escorting fighter jets were taken by sharp-eyed citizens.